document_title: And Then There Were None

question_text: who was the killer in the book and then there were none

root

text: And Then There Were None

text: Plot summary[edit]

text: On a hot 8th of August in the late 1930s, eight people arrive on a small, isolated island off the Devon coast of England. Each has an invitation tailored to his or her personal circumstances, such as an offer of employment or an unexpected late summer holiday. They are met by Thomas and Ethel Rogers, the butler and cook-housekeeper, who state that their hosts, Mr Ulick Norman Owen and his wife Mrs Una Nancy Owen, whom they have not yet met in person, have not arrived, but left instructions, which strikes all the guests as odd.

tag: p

text: A framed copy of a nursery rhyme, "Ten Little Niggers"[8] (called "Ten Little Indians" or "Ten Little Soldiers" in later editions), hangs in every guest's room, and ten figurines sit on the dining room table. After supper, a gramophone (or "phonograph") record is played;  the recording describes each visitor in turn, accuses each of having committed murder but escaping justice, and then asks if any of "the accused" wishes to offer a defence. All but Anthony Marston and Philip Lombard deny the charges, and Miss Brent refuses to discuss the matter.

text: They discover that none of them actually knows the Owens, and Justice Wargrave concludes that the name "U.N. Owen" is shorthand for "Unknown". After the recording, Marston finishes his drink and immediately dies from cyanide poisoning. The remaining guests notice that one of the ten figurines is now broken, and the nursery rhyme appears to reflect the manner of death ("One choked his little self and then there were nine").

text: The next morning, Mrs Rogers' corpse is found in her bed; she had died in her sleep from an overdose of chloral hydrate. By lunchtime, General MacArthur is found dead, from a heavy blow to his head. Two more figurines are found to be broken, and again the deaths parallel the rhyme. Miss Brent relates the account of the gramophone charge against her to Vera Claythorne, who later tells the others.

text: A search for Mr Owen shows that nobody else is on the island except the remaining seven. The island is a "bare rock" with no hiding places, and no one could have arrived or left; thus, they conclude that any one of the seven remaining persons is the killer. Wargrave leads the group in determining that so far, none of them can definitively be ruled out as the murderer. The next morning, Rogers is found dead while chopping wood, and after breakfast, Miss Brent is found dead in the kitchen, where she had been left alone after complaining of feeling unwell; she had been injected with potassium cyanide via a hypodermic needle.

text: Wargrave then suggests searching all the rooms, and any potentially dangerous items they can think of are locked up. Lombard's gun is missing from his room. When Vera goes upstairs to take a bath, she is shocked by the touch and smell of seaweed left hanging from the ceiling of her room and screams; the remaining guests rush upstairs to her room. Wargrave, however, is still downstairs. The others find him seated, immobile and crudely dressed up in the attire of a judge. Wargrave is examined briefly by Dr Armstrong and pronounced dead from a gunshot to the forehead.

text: That night, Lombard appears surprised when he finds his gun returned to his room. Blore catches a glimpse of someone leaving the house but loses the trail. He then discovers Armstrong is absent from his room, and the remaining three guests conclude that Armstrong must be the killer. Vera, Blore, and Lombard decide to stay together at all times. In the morning, they signal SOS to the mainland from outside by using a mirror and sunlight, but receive no reply. Blore then  returns to the house for food by himself and is killed by a heavy bear-shaped clock statue that is pushed from Vera's window sill, crushing his skull.

text: Vera and Lombard are now confident that Armstrong is the killer. However, shortly afterwards, the duo come upon Armstrong's body washed up on the beach. They realize that Armstrong could not have killed Blore. Panicked, each concludes the other must be the killer. Quickly regaining her composure, Vera suggests moving the doctor's body past the shore, but this is a pretext. She lifts Lombard's gun. When Lombard lunges at her to get it back, she shoots him dead.

text: She returns to the house in a shaken dreamlike state, relieved to be alive. She finds a noose and chair arranged in her room, and a strong smell of the sea. With visions of her former lover Hugo urging her on, she adjusts the noose and kicks the chair out from under her.

text: Two Scotland Yard officials are puzzled by the identity of U N Owen. Although they can partially reconstruct the deaths from Marston to Wargrave with the help of the victims' diaries and a coroner's careful report, they conclude that U N  Owen was one of the victims, but are unable to determine which one. The chair on which Vera stood to hang herself had been set back upright, indicating that someone was still alive on the island after her suicide, presumably the killer.

text: In a postscript, a fishing ship picks up a bottle inside its trawling nets; the bottle contains a written confession of the killings, which is then sent to Scotland Yard. It is not clear how long after the killings the bottle was discovered.

text: In the confession, Justice Wargrave writes that he has long wished to set an unsolvable puzzle of murder. His victims would be of his choosing, as they were not found guilty in a trial. He explains how he tricked Dr Armstrong into helping him fake his own death under the pretext that it would help the group identify the killer. He also explains that he replaced the chair in Vera's room. Finally, he reveals how he used the gun and some elastic to ensure his own death matched the account in the guests' diaries. Although he wished to create an unsolvable mystery, he acknowledges in the missive a "pitiful human need" for recognition, hence the confession.

text: He describes how his first victim was Isaac Morris, the sleazy lawyer and drugs trafficker who anonymously purchased the island and arranged the invitations on his behalf, making nine murders and two suicides. Morris was poisoned before Wargrave departed for the island. Wargrave's intention is to stymie the police as to which person on the island was the murderer. He states that, although there are three clues that could guide the police to the correct killer, he is confident they will be unable to find them and that the mystery will remain unsolved until the confession is read.

text: Characters[edit]

text: The following details of the characters are based on the original novel published in England.

text:
Anthony James Marston, an amoral and irresponsible young man, killed two young children (John and Lucy Combes) while driving recklessly, for which he felt no real remorse and accepted no personal responsibility, complaining only that his driving licence had been suspended as a result. He was the first island victim.
Mrs Ethel Rogers, the cook/housekeeper and Thomas Rogers' wife, described as a pale and ghost-like woman who walks in mortal fear. She was dominated by her bullying husband, who coerced her into agreeing to withhold the medicine of a former employer (Miss Jennifer Brady, an elderly spinster) in order that they might collect an inheritance they knew she had left them in her will. Mrs Rogers was the second victim.
General John Gordon MacArthur, a retired World War I war hero, who sent his late wife's lover (a younger officer, Arthur Richmond) to his death by assigning him to a mission where it was practically guaranteed he would not survive. Leslie MacArthur had mistakenly put the wrong letters in the envelopes on one occasion when she wrote to both men at the same time. The general tells Vera that no one will leave the island alive.
Thomas Rogers, the butler and Ethel Rogers' husband. He dominated his weak-willed wife, and they killed their former elderly employer by withholding her medicine, causing the woman to die from heart failure, thus inheriting the money she bequeathed them in her will. Despite his wife's death, Rogers was still serving the others.
Emily Caroline Brent, an elderly, religiously rigid, socially respectable spinster who accepted the vacation on Soldier Island largely due to financial constraints. Years earlier, she had dismissed her teenage maid, Beatrice Taylor, for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Beatrice, who had already been rejected by her parents for the same reason, drowned herself, which Miss Brent considered an even worse sin. The murderer put a bee into the room, in addition to murder by poison. ("A bumblebee stung one...")
Dr Edward George Armstrong, a Harley Street doctor, responsible for the death of a patient, Louisa Mary Clees, after he operated on her while drunk many years earlier.
William Henry Blore, a former police inspector and now a private investigator, was accused of falsifying his testimony in court for a bribe from a dangerous criminal gang, which resulted in an innocent man, James Landor, being convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Landor, who had a wife and young child, died shortly afterwards in prison. He arrived under the alias "Davis" from South Africa, on the island for "security work". His true name is revealed on the gramophone recording. He denies the accusation against him from the gramophone recording, but later admits the truth to Lombard.
Philip Lombard, a soldier of fortune. Literally down to his last square meal, he comes to the island with a loaded revolver, as suggested by his invitation letter. Lombard is accused of causing the deaths of a number of East African tribesmen, after stealing their food and abandoning them to their deaths. Neither he nor Marston feels any remorse. He is the only one to theorize that U N Owen might be Wargrave, but the others reject this. He and Vera are the only victims not killed by Justice Wargrave.
Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, a cool, efficient, resourceful young woman who is on leave from her position as a sports mistress at a third-rate girls' school. Her job as a governess was ended by the death of her charge, Cyril Hamilton. Claythorne let the boy drown so his uncle Hugo Hamilton could inherit the family estate and marry her. Hugo rejected her when he somehow realized what she had done.
Justice Lawrence John Wargrave, a retired judge, known as a "hanging judge" for liberally awarding the death penalty in murder cases. Wargrave is accused of influencing the jury to hand a guilty verdict to Edward Seton, a man many thought was innocent of his crime of killing an old woman, and sentencing him to death unfairly. As the two policemen discuss at Scotland Yard, new evidence after Seton's execution proved Seton's guilt. He admits in his postscript that he has a lifelong hidden sadistic urge to kill, but only the guilty. Finding himself terminally ill, he devises and carries out this plot.
Isaac Morris is an unethical lawyer hired by Wargrave to purchase the island (under the name U N Owen), arrange the gramophone recording, and make arrangements on his behalf, including gathering information on the near destitute Philip Lombard, to whom he gave some money to get by  and recommended Lombard bring his gun to the island. Morris's is the first death, as he died before the guests arrived on the island. Morris was responsible for the addiction and suicide of a young woman through his narcotics activities. The victim was the daughter of a friend of Wargrave. He accepts Wargrave's lethal cocktail of pills, as something that would help him.
Fred Narracott, the boatman who delivered the guests to the island. After doing so, he does not appear again in the story, although Inspector Maine notes it was Narracott who, sensing something seriously amiss, returned to the island as soon as the weather allowed, before he was scheduled to do, and found the bodies. Maine speculates that it was the normalcy and ordinariness of the guests that convinced Narracott to do so and ignore his orders to dismiss any signals requesting help.
Sir Thomas Legge and Inspector Maine, two Scotland Yard detectives who discuss the case in the epilogue. They reason out the events of the case, but are stymied as to which was the murderer until the confession comes to light.

tag: ul

text: Literary significance and reception[edit]

text: Writing for The Times Literary Supplement of 11 November 1939, Maurice Percy Ashley stated, "If her latest story has scarcely any detection in it there is no scarcity of murders... There is a certain feeling of monotony inescapable in the regularity of the deaths which is better suited to a serialized newspaper story than a full-length novel. Yet there is an ingenious problem to solve in naming the murderer", he continued. "It will be an extremely astute reader who guesses correctly."[9]

text: For The New York Times Book Review (25 February 1940), Isaac Anderson has arrived to the point where "the voice" accuses the ten "guests" of their past crimes, which have all resulted in the deaths of human, and then said, "When you read what happens after that you will not believe it, but you will keep on reading, and as one incredible event is followed by another even more incredible you will still keep on reading. The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery that Agatha Christie has ever written, and if any other writer has ever surpassed it for sheer puzzlement the name escapes our memory. We are referring, of course, to mysteries that have logical explanations, as this one has. It is a tall story, to be sure, but it could have happened."[10]

text: Many compared the book to her novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926). For instance, an unnamed reviewer in the Toronto Daily Star of 16 March 1940 said, "Others have written better mysteries than Agatha Christie, but no one can touch her for ingenious plot and surprise ending. With And Then There Were None... she is at her most ingenious and most surprising... is, indeed, considerably above the standard of her last few works and close to the Roger Ackroyd level."[11]

text: Other critics laud the use of plot twists and surprise endings. Maurice Richardson wrote a rhapsodic review in The Observer's issue of 5 November 1939 which began, "No wonder Agatha Christie's latest has sent her publishers into a vatic trance. We will refrain, however, from any invidious comparisons with Roger Ackroyd and be content with saying that Ten Little Niggers is one of the very best, most genuinely bewildering Christies yet written. We will also have to refrain from reviewing it thoroughly, as it is so full of shocks that even the mildest revelation would spoil some surprise from somebody, and I am sure that you would rather have your entertainment kept fresh than criticism pure." After stating the set-up of the plot, Richardson concluded, "Story telling and characterisation are right at the top of Mrs Christie's baleful form. Her plot may be highly artificial, but it is neat, brilliantly cunning, soundly constructed, and free from any of those red-herring false trails which sometimes disfigure her work."[3]

text: Robert Barnard, a recent critic, concurred with the reviews, describing the book as "Suspenseful and menacing detective-story-cum-thriller. The closed setting with the succession of deaths is here taken to its logical conclusion, and the dangers of ludicrousness and sheer reader-disbelief are skillfully avoided. Probably the best-known Christie, and justifiably among the most popular."[12]

text: The original title of the mystery (Ten Little Niggers) has been changed because it was offensive in English-speaking countries and some others. Few critics have opined that Christie's original title and the setting on "Nigger Island" (later changed to "Indian Island" and "Soldier Island", variously) may be integral to the work. These aspects of the novel, argues Alison Light, "could be relied upon automatically to conjure up a thrilling 'otherness', a place where revelations about the 'dark side' of the English would be appropriate."[13] Unlike novels such as Heart of Darkness, "Christie's location is both more domesticated and privatized, taking for granted the construction of racial fears woven into psychic life as early as the nursery. If her story suggests how easy it is to play upon such fears, it is also a reminder of how intimately tied they are to sources of pleasure and enjoyment."[13]

text: In the "Binge!" article of Entertainment Weekly Issue #1343-44 (26 December 2014–3 January 2015), the writers picked And Then There Were None as an "EW favorite" on the list of the "Nine Great Christie Novels".[14]

text: Current published version of the rhyme[edit]

text:
Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier Boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier Boys travelling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.[15]

Seven little Soldier Boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Soldier Boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Soldier Boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Soldier Boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Soldier Boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Soldier Boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.[16]

One little Soldier Boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.[17]

text: 19th Century original verses[edit]

text: This children's rhyme was originally written as songs in the 19th century, one in Britain in 1869[18] and one in the US in 1868.[19]

text:
Ten Little Niggers(Frank Green)[18]

Ten Little Indians(Septimus Winner)[19]

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine
One choked his little self, and then there were nine.
Nine little nigger boys sat up very late
One overslept himself, and then there were eight.
Eight little nigger boys traveling in Devon
One said he'd stay there, and then there were seven.
Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks
One chopped himself in half, and then there were six.
Six little nigger boys playing with a hive
A bumble-bee stung one, and then there were five.
Five little nigger boys going in for law
One got in chancery, and then there were four.
Four little nigger boys going out to sea
A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.
Three little nigger boys walking in the zoo
A big bear hugged one, and then there were two.
Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun
One got frizzled up, and then there was one.
One little nigger boys living all alone
He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,
One toddled home and then there were nine;
Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,
One tumbled off and then there were eight.

Refrain :
One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injuns boys,
Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injuns boys.
Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n,
One went to sleep and then there were seven;
Seven little Injuns cutting up their tricks,
One broke his neck and then there were six.
Six little Injuns kickin' all alive,
One kick'd the bucket and then there were five;
Five little Injuns on a cellar door,
One tumbled in and then there were four.
Four little Injuns up on a spree,
One he got fuddled and then there were three;
Three little Injuns out in a canoe,
One tumbled overboard and then there were two.
Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,
One shot t'other and then there was one;
One little Injuns livin' all alone,
He got married and then there were none.

tag: table

text: The title[edit]

text: The novel was originally published in late 1939 and early 1940 almost simultaneously, in the United Kingdom and the United States. In the UK it appeared under the title Ten Little Niggers, in book and newspaper serialized formats. The serialization was in 23 parts in the Daily Express from Tuesday 6 June to Saturday 1 July 1939. All of the instalments carried an illustration by "Prescott" with the first having an illustration of Burgh Island in Devon which inspired the setting of the story. The serialized version did not contain any chapter divisions.[20] The book retailed for seven shillings and six pence.

text: In the United States it was published under the title And Then There Were None, again in both book and serial formats. Both of the original US publications changed the title from that originally used in the UK, due to the offensiveness of the word in American culture, where it was more widely perceived as a racially loaded ethnic slur or insult compared to contemporary UK culture, rather than a fairly innocent rhyme for children to use when selecting one child for a game. The serialized version appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in seven parts from 20 May (Volume 211, Number 47) to 1 July 1939 (Volume 212, Number 1) with illustrations by Henry Raleigh, and the book was published in January 1940 by Dodd, Mead and Company for $2.[4][5][6]

text: In the original UK novel all references to "Indians" or "Soldiers" were originally "Nigger", including the island's name, the pivotal rhyme found by the visitors, and the ten figurines.[5] (In Chapter 7, Vera Claythorne becomes semi-hysterical at the mention by Miss Brent of "our black brothers", which is understandable only in the context of the original name.) UK editions changed to the current definitive title in 1985.[21] The word "nigger" was already racially offensive in the United States by the start of the 20th century, and therefore the book's first US edition and first serialization changed the title to And Then There Were None and removed all references to the word from the book, as did the 1945 motion picture.[citation needed]

text: Publication history[edit]

text: This is the best selling crime novel of all time, and what makes Agatha Christie the best selling novelist.[2] It is Christie's best-selling novel, with more than 100 million copies sold; it is also the world's best-selling mystery and one of the best-selling books of all time. Publications International lists the novel as the sixth best-selling title.[7]

text: The book and its adaptations have been released under various new names since the original publication, including Ten Little Indians (1946 play, Broadway performance and 1964 paperback book), Ten Little Soldiers and official title per the Agatha Christie Limited website, And Then There Were None.[2] UK editions continued to use the work's original title until the 1980s; the first UK edition to use the alternative title And Then There Were None appeared in 1985 with a reprint of the 1963 Fontana Paperback.[21]

text:
Christie, Agatha (November 1939). Ten Little Niggers. London: Collins Crime Club. OCLC 152375426.  Hardback, 256 pp. (First edition.)
Christie, Agatha (January 1940). And Then There Were None. New York: Dodd, Mead. OCLC 1824276.  Hardback, 264 pp. (First US edition.)
Christie, Agatha (1944). And Then There Were None. New York: Pocket Books (Pocket number 261). Paperback, 173 pp.
Christie, Agatha (1947). Ten Little Niggers. London: Pan Books (Pan number 4). Paperback, 190 pp.
Christie, Agatha (1958). Ten Little Niggers. London: Penguin Books (Penguin number 1256). Paperback, 201 pp.
Christie, Agatha (1963). And Then There Were None. London: Fontana. OCLC 12503435.  Paperback, 190 pp. (The 1985 reprint was the first UK publication of the novel under the title And Then There Were None.)[21]
Christie, Agatha (1964). Ten Little Indians. New York: Pocket Books. OCLC 29462459.  (First publication of novel as Ten Little Indians.)
Christie, Agatha (1964). And Then There Were None. New York: Washington Square Press. Paperback, teacher's edition.
Christie, Agatha (1977). Ten Little Niggers (Greenway ed.). London: Collins Crime Club. ISBN 0-00-231835-0.  Collected works, Hardback, 252 pp. (Except for reprints of the 1963 Fontana paperback, this was one of the last English-language publications of the novel under the title Ten Little Niggers.)[22]
Christie, Agatha (1980). The Mysterious Affair at Styles; Ten Little Niggers; Dumb Witness. Sydney: Lansdowne Press. ISBN 0-7018-1453-5.  (Late use of the original title in an Australian edition.)
Christie, Agatha (1986). Ten Little Indians. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-55222-8.  (Last publication of novel under the title Ten Little Indians.)

text: The sensitivity of the original British title varies across nations, depending on their culture and which words are used to describe people by skin color. In the US, the British title was considered offensive at first publication, and changed to the last line of the rhyme instead of its title. As the estate of Agatha Christie now offers it under one title only in English, And Then There Were None, it is likely that new foreign language editions will match that title in their language.[2] The original title (Ten Little Niggers) still survives in a few foreign-language versions of the novel, such as the Bulgarian title Десет малки негърчета, and was used in other languages for a time, for example in Dutch until the 1994 release of the 18th edition.[citation needed] The title Ten Little Negroes continues to be commonly used in foreign-language versions, for example in Spanish, Greek, Serbian, Romanian,[23] French[24] and Hungarian, as well as a 1987 Russian film adaptation Десять негритят (Desyat Negrityat). In 1999, the Slovak National Theatre staged the play under its original title but changed to A napokon nezostal už nik (And Then There Were None) mid-run.[25]

text: Possible inspirations[edit]

text: The 1930 novel The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning has a plot that strongly matches that of Christie's later novel, including a recorded voice announcing to the guests that their sins will be visited upon them by death.  The Invisible Host was adapted as the 1930 Broadway The Ninth Guest by Owen Davis,[26] which itself was adapted as the 1934 film The Ninth Guest.

text: The 1933 K.B.S. Productions Sherlock Holmes film A Study in Scarlet follows a strikingly similar plot;[27] it includes a scene where Holmes is shown a card with the hint: "Six little Indians ....bee stung one and then there were five". In this case, the rhyme refers to "Ten Little Fat Boys". (The film's plot bears no resemblance to Arthur Conan Doyle's original story of the same name.) The author of the movie's screenplay, Robert Florey, "doubted that [Christie] had seen A Study in Scarlet, but he regarded it as a compliment if it had helped inspire her".[28]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: And Then There Were None has had more adaptations than any other single work by Agatha Christie. It is the isolated location where all the players on scene are murdered, never knowing who their murderer is, that is the idea. "It was an idea which is now the basis for many Hollywood horror films and has become a cliché to modern audiences, but it was Agatha Christie who was the first to do it and so successfully that the story has become her most adapted piece."[2] She changed the bleak ending to a more palatable one for theatre audiences when she adapted the novel for the stage in 1943. Many adaptations incorporate changes to the story, such as using Christie's alternative ending from her stage play or changing the setting to locations other than an island.

text: With a plot line so well-known, parodies and references to the novel or the play are frequent. Many television programs use the essence of the plot, a group of characters cut off from the outside world with a murderer in their midst, but with innocent victims in place of guilty victims, and give no credit to Agatha Christie for the many differences in plot and motivation.

text: Film[edit]

text: There have been numerous film adaptations of the novel, some comedic. Examples include:

text:
And Then There Were None (1945 film), René Clair's cinema adaptation, was a successful US production
Ten Little Indians (1965 film), is George Pollock's cinema adaptation
Gumnaam (1965, translation: Unknown or Anonymous) is an Indian suspense thriller film adaptation.
Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970) is a loose Italian giallo adaptation directed by Mario Bava.[29]
Nadu Iravil (1970, translation: In the middle of the night), a Tamil adaptation directed by Sundaram Balachander[30]
And Then There Were None (1974 film), the first English-language colour version, directed by Peter Collinson
Desyat' Negrityat (1987, Десять негритят, Eng: "Ten Little Negroes") Stanislav Govorukhin's Russian adaptation keeps intact Christie's grim storyline and ending.
Ten Little Indians, a 1989 American version directed by Alan Birkinshaw
Aduthathu (2012) is a Tamil adaptation[31]
Aatagara (2015) is a Kannada film adaptation[32]

text: Radio[edit]

text:
The BBC broadcast "Ten Little Niggers" (1947), adapted by Ayton Whitaker, first aired as a Monday Matinee on the BBC Home Service on 27 December 1947 and as Saturday Night Theatre on the BBC Light Programme on 29 December.[33]
On 13 November 2010, as part of its Saturday Play series, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 90-minute adaptation written by Joy Wilkinson. The production was directed by Mary Peate and featured, among others, Geoffrey Whitehead as Justice Wargrave, Lyndsey Marshal as Vera Claythorne, Alex Wyndham as Philip Lombard, John Rowe as Dr. Armstrong, and Joanna Monro as Emily Brent. In this production, which is extremely faithful to the novel, the rhyme is "Ten Little Soldier Boys".[citation needed]

text: Stage[edit]

text:
And Then There Were None (1943 play) is Christie's adaptation of the story for the stage. She and the producers agreed that audiences might not flock to a tale with such a grim ending as the novel, nor would it work well dramatically as there would be no one left to tell the story. Thus, she reworked the ending for Lombard and Vera to be innocent of the crimes of which they were accused, survive, and fall in love with each other. Some of the names were also changed, e.g., General Macarthur became General McKenzie in both the New York and London productions.[34][35] By 1943, General Douglas MacArthur was playing a prominent role in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, which may explain the change of the character's name. Regardless of the reason, it was changed.
Ten little niggers (1944 play), Dundee Repertory Theatre Company was given special permission to restore the original ending of the novel. The company first performed a stage adaptation of the novel in August 1944 under the UK title of the novel, with Agatha Christie credited as the dramatist.[36] It was the first performance in repertory theatre.[36] It was staged again in 1965.[37] There was an article in the Dundee Evening Register in August 1944
And Then There Were None (2005 play), On 14 October 2005, a new version of the play, written by Kevin Elyot and directed by Steven Pimlott, opened at the Gielgud Theatre in London. For this version, Elyot returned to the original story in the novel, restoring the nihilism of the original.[38]

text: Television[edit]

text: Several variations of the original novel were adapted for television, three of which were British adaptations. The first of these, in 1949, was produced by the BBC.[39] The second was produced in 1959,[40] by ITV.  Both of those productions aired with Christie's original title. The third and most recent British adaptation aired as And Then There Were None on BBC One in December 2015, as a mini-series produced in cooperation with Acorn Media and Agatha Christie Productions.  The 2015 production adhered more closely to the original plot, though there were several differences, and was the first English language film adaptation to feature an ending similar to that of the novel.[41]

text: On 25 and 26 March 2017 TV Asahi in Japan aired そして誰もいなくなった (Soshite daremo inakunatta), a Japanese language adaptation by Nagasaka Shukei (長坂秀佳) of the original story set in modern times.[42][43]

text: Other media[edit]

text: The novel has been the inspiration for several video games.  For the Apple II, Online Systems released the game Mystery House in 1980.  On the PC, The Adventure Company released the video game Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None in 2005, the first in a series of PC games based on Christie novels. In February 2008, it was ported to the Wii console. The identity of the murderer is not that of the killer in the original book. The game player assumes the role of Patrick Naracott (brother of Fred Naracott, who is involved in a newly created subplot), who is stranded with the others when his boat is scuttled. This allows for alternate, more successful endings in which Naracott survives and is able to prevent the murders of the innocent Lombard and Claythorne. All endings depart markedly from the novel and previous adaptations in that the killer and motives are different.[citation needed]

text: And Then There Were None was released by HarperCollins as a graphic novel adaptation on 30 April 2009, adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq.

text: Peká Editorial released a board game based on the book, created by Judit Hurtado and Fernando Chavarría, and illustrated by Esperanza Peinado.[44]

text: Timeline of adaptations[edit]

text:
type
Title
Year
Notes

Film
And Then There Were None
1945
American film and first cinema adaptation. Produced & directed by René Clair.

TV
Ten Little Niggers
1949
BBC television production (IMDb)

TV
Ten Little Niggers
1959
ITV television production (IMDb)

TV
Ten Little Indians
1959
NBC television production (IMDb)

Film
Ten Little Indians
1965
British film and second cinema adaptation. Directed by George Pollock and produced by Harry Alan Towers; Pollock had previously handled four Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford. Set in a mountain retreat in Austria.

Film
Gumnaam
1965
Loose, uncredited Hindi film adaptation, which adds the characteristic "Bollywood" elements of comedy, music and dance to Christie's plot.[citation needed]

TV
Zehn kleine Negerlein
1969
West German television production (IMDb)

Film
5 bambole per la luna d'agosto("Five Dolls for an August Moon")
1970
Loose, uncredited Italian giallo film adaptation written by Mario di Nardo and directed by Mario Bava.[29]

Film
And Then There Were None
1974
English language film by Peter Collinson and produced by Harry Alan Towers. First English-language color film version of the novel, based on a screenplay by Towers (writing as "Peter Welbeck"), who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1965 film. Set at a grand hotel in the Iranian desert.

TV
Ten Little Slaves (Achra Abid Zghar)
1974
Télé Liban TV series directed by Jean Fayyad, TV Adaptation by Latifeh Moultaka. (Facebook Page)

Film
Desyat' negrityatДесять негритят("Ten Little Negroes")
1987
Russian film version produced/directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, notable for being the first cinema adaptation to keep the novel's original plot and grim ending.

Film
Ten Little Indians
1989
British film, produced by Harry Alan Towers and directed by Alan Birkinshaw, set on safari in the African savannah.

TV
Ten Little Slaves (Achra Abid Zghar)
2014
MTV Lebanon television production (MTV)

TV

And Then There Were None

2015

BBC One miniseries broadcast on three consecutive nights, directed by Craig Viveiros and adapted by Sarah Phelps. Similar to book, although not identical, with changes to backstories and actual murders on the island.

TV

Soshite Daremo Inakunatta

2017

Japanese TV Asahi miniseries broadcast on two consecutive nights, directed by Seiji Izumi and adapted by Hideka Nagasaka. (TV Asahi)


document_title: The Dark Tower (series)

question_text: when did the first dark tower book come out

text: The Dark Tower (series)

text: Overview[edit]

text: Plot summary[edit]

text: In the story, Roland Deschain is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of "Arthur Eld", his world's analogue of King Arthur. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West but is also magical. Many of the magical aspects have vanished from Mid-World, but traces remain as do relics from a technologically advanced society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and it appears to be coming apart at the seams. Mighty nations have been torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish without a trace and time does not flow in an orderly fashion. Sometimes, even the sun rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals and age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.

text: For a detailed synopsis of the novels, see the relevant article for each book.

text: Characters[edit]

text: Along his journey to the Dark Tower, Roland meets a great number of both friends and enemies. For most of the way he is accompanied by a group of people who together with him form the Ka-tet of the Nineteen and Ninety-nine, consisting of Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, and Oy. Among his many enemies on the way are The Man In Black, Mordred and The Crimson King.

text: Language[edit]

text: King created a language for his characters, known as the High Speech. Examples of this language include the phrases Thankee, Sai ("Thank you, Sir/Ma'am.") and Dan-Tete ("Little Savior"). In addition, King uses the term Ka, which is the approximate equivalent of destiny, or fate, in the fictional language High Speech (and similarly, Ka-tet, a group of people bound together by fate/destiny). This term originated in Egyptian mythology and storytelling, and has figured in several other novels and screenplays since 1976. The term also appears in King's short story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats", in which Ted describes its meaning to Bobby.

text: Series[edit]

text:
#
Title
Pages
Words[3]
Release
Awards

1
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
224
55,376
1982

2
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
400
125,948
1987

3
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
512
173,489
1991

4
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
787
254,691
1997
1998 Locus Award nominee[4]

5
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
714
242,776
2003
2004 Locus Award nominee[5]

6
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
432
118,221
2004
2005 Locus Award nominee[6]

7
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
845
272,273
2004
2005 British Fantasy Award winner[6]

8
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole
336
91,857
2012

Total
4,250
1,334,631

text: Continuation[edit]

text: While the series was declared finished with the publication of the seventh volume in 2004, King described in an interview in March 2009 an idea for a new short story he'd recently had: "And then I thought, 'Well, why don't I find three more like this and do a book that would be almost like modern fairy tales?' Then this thing started to add on bits and pieces so I guess it will be a novel." According to King, the idea was a new Dark Tower novel.

text: King said, regarding The Dark Tower, "It's not really done yet. Those seven books are really sections of one long über-novel."[7] Stephen King confirmed this during his TimesTalk event at The Times Center in New York City on November 10, 2009, and the next day King's official site posted that King will begin working on this novel in about eight months, with a tentative title being The Wind Through the Keyhole.[8] King noted that this novel should be set between the fourth and the fifth books of the series. The book, titled The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole, was announced on Stephen King's official site on March 10, 2011, and was published on April 24, 2012.[9]

text: In July 2016, director Nikolaj Arcel confirmed that the Dark Tower film would be a sequel to the novels as well as a direct adaptation, with Roland in the next cycle of his journey to the Tower.[10]

text: Illustrations[edit]

text: Each book in the series was originally published in hardcover format with a number of full-color illustrations spread throughout. Each book contained works by a single illustrator only. Subsequent printings of each book in trade paperback format usually preserve the illustrations in full, except for books I and IV. Pocket-sized paperback reprints contain only black-and-white chapter or section header illustrations.

text: The illustrators who worked on each book are:

text:
Michael Whelan; The Dark Tower is among his early notable works.
Phil Hale – the only Dark Tower illustrator who created a second set of illustrations for a later printing of the book he illustrated.
Ned Dameron.
Dave McKean – the only Dark Tower illustrator to work in photocollages.
Jae Lee – an illustrator who had previously worked on the Marvel Comics adaptation of the series, illustrated The Wind Through the Keyhole.[11]
Bernie Wrightson – illustrator for 1960s and 1970s horror comics; he also provided the illustrations for King's novella "Cycle of the Werewolf" (1983).
Darrel Anderson – the only Dark Tower illustrator who used digital illustration techniques.
Michael Whelan – returning more than 20 years later as the only recurring Dark Tower illustrator.

tag: ol

text: Reception[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2007)

text: Bill Sheehan of The Washington Post called the series "a humane, visionary epic and a true magnum opus" that stands as an "imposing example of pure storytelling," "filled with brilliantly rendered set pieces... cataclysmic encounters and moments of desolating tragedy."[12] Erica Noonan of the Boston Globe said, "There's a fascinating world to be discovered in the series" but noted that its epic nature keeps it from being user-friendly.[13] Allen Johnston of The New York Times was disappointed with how the series progressed; while he marveled at the "sheer absurdity of [the books'] existence" and complimented King's writing style, he said preparation would have improved the series, stating "King doesn't have the writerly finesse for these sorts of games, and the voices let him down."[14] Michael Berry of the San Francisco Chronicle, however, called the series' early installments "highfalutin hodgepodge" but the ending "a valediction" that "more than delivers on what has been promised."[15]

text: Other media[edit]

text: Tie-in books[edit]

text: The series has prompted related non-fiction books by authors besides King. Robin Furth has published the two-volume Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, an encyclopedia-style companion to the series that she originally wrote for King's personal use. Bev Vincent has published The Road to The Dark Tower: Exploring Stephen King's Magnum Opus, a book containing back story, summary and analysis and The Dark Tower Companion, which includes interviews and coverage of the Marvel graphic novels. Stephen King has endorsed these books.

text: Charlie the Choo-Choo is a "children's book" by Stephen King released in 2016, published under the pseudonym Beryl Evans. It is adapted from a section of King's previous novel The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands. It was illustrated by Ned Dameron.

text: Prequel comic series[edit]

text: A prequel to the Dark Tower series, set around the time of the flashbacks in The Gunslinger and Wizard and Glass, has been released by Marvel Comics. With the project overseen by King, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born is plotted by Robin Furth, scripted by Peter David, and illustrated by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove. The first issue of this first arc was released on February 7, 2007. A hardcover volume containing all seven issues was released on November 7, 2007.

text: The second arc in the Dark Tower comic series was released by Marvel Comics. Called The Long Road Home, the first issue was published on March 5, 2008. A hardcover volume containing all five issues was released on October 15, 2008.

text: The third arc in the Dark Tower comic series was released by Marvel Comics, and it is called The Dark Tower: Treachery. The first issue of the six issue arc was published on September 10, 2008. A hardcover volume containing all 6 issues was released on April 21, 2009.

text: Following the completion of the third arc a one-shot issue titled The Dark Tower: Sorcerer was released April 8, 2009. The story focuses on the history of the villainous wizard Marten Broadcloak.

text: The fourth arc in the Dark Tower comic series was released by Marvel Comics, and it is called The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead. The first issue of the six issue arc was published on May 13, 2009. A hardcover volume containing all 6 issues, as well as the Sorcerer One-Shot was released on February 2, 2010.

text: The fifth arc in the Dark Tower comic series was released by Marvel Comics, and it is called The Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill. The first issue of the five issue arc was published on December 3, 2009. A hardcover volume containing all 5 issues was released on August 17, 2010.

text: Marvel Comics has also published three supplemental books to date that expand upon characters and locations first introduced in the novels. The Dark Tower: Gunslingers' Guidebook was released in 2007, The Dark Tower: End-World Almanac was released in 2008, and The Dark Tower: Guide to Gilead was released in 2009. All three books were written by Anthony Flamini, with Furth serving as creative consultant. End-World Almanac and Guide to Gilead feature illustrations by David Yardin.

text: Further comic adaptions[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: An adaption of King's novel The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, titled The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Journey Begins, was made into a comic series and released by Marvel Comics. The first issue of the five-issue arc was published on May 19, 2010. The collected hardback edition was released on January 26, 2011.

text: An adaption of King's novella The Little Sisters of Eluria, titled The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Little Sisters of Eluria, was made into a comic series and released by Marvel Comics. The first issue of the five-issue arc was published on December 8, 2010. The collected hardback edition was released on June 8, 2011.

text: A second adaption of King's novel The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, titled The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Battle of Tull, was made into a comic series and released by Marvel Comics. The first issue of the five-issue arc was published on June 1, 2011. The collected hardback edition was released on January 25, 2012.

text: A third adaption of King's novel The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, titled The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Way Station, was made into a comic series and released by Marvel Comics. The first issue of the five-issue arc was published on December 14, 2011. The collected hardback edition was released on June 27, 2012.

text: Discordia[edit]

text: December 7, 2009 saw the release of a spin-off online game titled Discordia,[16] available to play free of charge on the official Stephen King website. The game is a continuation of the original Dark Tower story, following the war between the Tet Corporation and Sombra/NCP in New York, and it has been supervised by both Stephen King and Robin Furth. From the website: "Exploring the behind-the-scenes conflict between the two companies, Discordia introduces long-time Dark Tower fans to new characters and numerous mechanical/magical items developed by Mid-World's Old Ones. Over the course of our adventure we will visit many locations, both those familiar to Dark Tower fans and others which we only glimpsed in the Dark Tower novels. While we may not see Roland and his ka-tet in this adventure, the development team has remembered the faces of its fathers. We have done our best to honor the original Dark Tower series while simultaneously mapping new and exciting Dark Tower territory."

text: Film continuation[edit]

text: Initially, in 2007, J. J. Abrams was connected to a film adaptation of The Dark Tower series,[17] but later revealed he had removed himself from involvement in the project.[18] On September 8, 2010, an official announcement was made that the series would be brought to both the big and the small screens via a trilogy of feature films and two seasons of a television series to bridge gaps between the films.[19] According to a press release from Universal Pictures from October 29, 2010, the first Dark Tower film would open on May 17, 2013.[20] On July 19, 2011, Universal pulled its support from the production of the Dark Tower films and television series. According to reports, the studio was unable to come to terms with producer Ron Howard.[21] Despite this, Stephen King remained confident Howard would see the project through with another studio, and Howard confirmed the adaptation was still on track, noting that HBO would carry the television series portions of the project from then on.[22][23]

text: On March 13, 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. Pictures was now interested in making at least the first film and that Russell Crowe, tipped to play Roland Deschain, was no longer on board. Reports indicated that filming might have commenced as early as the first quarter of 2013.[24] However, Warner eventually passed on the film.[25] Later, on April 10, 2015, it was reported that Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital would be going ahead with the first film in the series alongside a television series, using a reworked script by Akiva Goldsman, who worked on the initial 2010 proposal, and Jeff Pinkner.[26] On June 2, 2015, Nikolaj Arcel was hired by the studio to direct the film.[27] On March 1, 2016, it was announced that Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey had both joined the film, cast respectively as Roland Deschain and Walter O'Dim.[28] On May 3, 2017, the first official trailer was released.[29]The film was released on August 4. 2017.[30] Critics panned the film with it receiving a score of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes.[31] The film combines elements from several novels in The Dark Tower series, serving as a canonical sequel to the novel series, which concluded with the revelation that Roland's quest was a cyclical time loop; the presence of the Horn of Eld, which Roland carries in the film, indicates that this is the next cycle; Stephen King has indicated that The Dark Tower film and television series will follow Roland's "last time round" to the titular Dark Tower.[32][33][34]

text: Potential Sequel[edit]

text: In an interview with Collider, Stephen King expressed hope for a sequel film in addition to the upcoming television series, suggesting that it should be R-rated, with Roland wearing a hat, and that it would include the "lobstrosities" from The Drawing of the Three.[35] In an interview with ComingSoon.net, Nikolaj Arcel confirmed that The Drawing of the Three would form the basis for the sequel, and that yet-to-be-cast actors who will play Eddie and Susannah Dean would appear alongside Elba, McConaughey, Taylor, and Haley reprising their roles as Roland, Walter, Jake and Sayre respectively.[36]

text: Audiobooks[edit]

text: Currently there exist four audio versions of The Dark Tower series – in English, in German, in French and in Russian. The audio book in English published by Hodder & Stoughton features voices of George Guidall and Frank Muller[37] and has neither music nor sound effects. The audio book in German published by Deutschland Random House Audio introduces Vittorio Alfieri[38] and David Nathan[39] as the narrators. In French audiobooks published by Éditions Gallimard and narrated by Jacques Frantz[40].

text: In Russian, The Gunslinger, as narrated by Igor Knyazev[41], does not have any music or sound effects.

text: The multi-voiced audio books should necessarily be mentioned. Being created by Roman Volkov and published by Vargtroms Studio[42], they contain music and sound effects and make extensive use of voices of children, as well as older persons. Over a hundred actors have already been involved in the process of narration. The sound engineer of the project is Victor Pocotiljuk who is well known for his work with the rock band Aria. Thanks to him, this initially amateur project turned out to be a full-size saga with epic music, sound effects and sound-design. The audio books by Vargtroms Studio often include trailers of the upcoming projects, codas and bad takes.

text: Connections to King's other works[edit]

text: The series has become a lynchpin that ties together much of King's body of work. The worlds of The Dark Tower are in part composed of locations, characters, events and other various elements from many of King's novels and short stories. Some of the books that are tied to this series, or that this series references are It, The Stand, 'Salem's Lot, Insomnia, and Hearts In Atlantis. One of the more recent references to the Dark Tower series in a King novel was in the 2006 book Cell. In it, the main characters pass through a fair with one of the main attractions being a Charlie The Choo Choo train set. Charlie The Choo Choo is an antagonist in The Dark Tower series, primarily in The Wastelands and Wizard And Glass.


document_title: I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love

question_text: who sang i don't want to live without your love

question_tokens: who sang i do n 't want to live without your love

text: I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love

text:
"I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love"

Single by Chicago

from the album Chicago 19

B-side
"I Stand Up"

Released
May 20, 1988

Format
7"

Recorded
1988

Length
3:55

Label
Full Moon/Reprise

Songwriter(s)
Diane Warren, Albert Hammond

Producer(s)
Ron Nevison

Chicago singles chronology

"Niagara Falls"
(1987)
"I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love"
(1988)
"Look Away"
(1988)

"Niagara Falls"
(1987)
"I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love"
(1988)
"Look Away"
(1988)

text: "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" is a hit song written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago 19 (1988), with Bill Champlin singing lead vocals. The first single released from that album, it reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.[1] The B-side of the single was "I Stand Up" written by Robert Lamm and Gerard McMahon. The song was featured in the Netflix original movie Death Note, which is based on the anime of the same name.


document_title: Mar-a-Lago

question_text: how many members does mar a lago have

question_tokens: how many members does mar a lago have

text: Mar-a-Lago

text: Etymology[edit]

text: The company identifies the name Mar-a-Lago as Spanish for "Sea-to-Lake."[10]

text: History[edit]

text: Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post Cereals business, built the house with her husband Edward F. Hutton. She hired Marion Sims Wyeth to design it, and Joseph Urban to create interior design and exterior decorations.[11][12] Post spent $7 million ($90 million today) and it was finished in 1927.[13] Post, who died in 1973, had willed the 17-acre (6.9 ha) estate to the United States government as a Winter White House for presidents and visiting foreign dignitaries.[14] Richard Nixon preferred the Florida White House in Key Biscayne, however, and Jimmy Carter was not interested. The federal government soon realized the immense cost of maintenance, and the difficulty maintaining security for diplomats,[15] and returned it to the Post Foundation in 1981, which listed it for sale for $20 million. Dina Merrill and Post's two other daughters did not maintain the property, expecting to sell it,[16] but there was so little interest that the city approved its demolition to build smaller homes.[17] Mar-a-Lago was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980.[3][18][19]

text: Donald Trump learned about the estate after unsuccessfully trying to purchase and combine two apartments in Palm Beach for his family. According to Trump, he offered the Post family $25 million for it, but they rejected it. Trump then bid $2 million to purchase the land between Mar-a-Lago and the ocean, stating he intended to build a home that would block Mar-a-Lago's beach view. The threat caused interest in the property to decline, and Trump ended up getting the property for $7 million in 1985.[20][16] He renovated the estate, adding a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) ballroom[17] to the 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, a 29-foot-long (8.8 m) pietra dura marble top dining table, 12 fireplaces, and three bomb shelters. The club also has five clay tennis courts and a waterfront pool. In the early 1990s, Trump faced financial difficulties. While negotiating with his bankers, he promised to divide Mar-a-Lago into smaller properties, alarming Palm Beach residents; the city council rejected his plan to do so. Trump instead turned the estate into a private club that—unlike other Palm Beach old money resorts like the Bath and Tennis Club and Everglades Club—accepted as members Jews, blacks, and, as one Everglades member said,[who?] "people who try to call attention to themselves". The new club hosted concerts by Céline Dion and Billy Joel, had beauty-pageant contestants as guests, and violated local noise ordinances. Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley spent their honeymoon at Mar-a-Lago.[17][16][21]

text: On April 18, 2012, the American Institute of Architects' Florida Chapter ranked Mar-a-Lago fifth on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.[22]

text: Mar-a-Lago has frequently hosted the International Red Cross Ball, an annual "white tie, tails, and tiara" ball. Founded by Post, it has a history of attracting wealthy socialites and ambassadors from across the world in support of the mission of the American Red Cross.

text: Trump presidency[edit]

text: President Trump has referred to Mar-a-Lago as his "Winter White House"[23] and alternately the "Southern White House".[24] It has a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) for communications with the White House Situation Room and Pentagon.[25]

text: Notable presidential visits[edit]

text: Trump's first visit to Mar-a-Lago as President of the United States took place on the weekend of February 3–6, 2017. On Saturday, he hosted the Diamond Red Cross Ball at Mar-a-Lago Club,[26] while on Sunday, he watched Super Bowl LI at Trump International Golf Club (West Palm Beach). The estimated cost (over US$3 million) of the weekend garnered some scrutiny as Trump, before being elected, had regularly criticized President Obama for taking allegedly expensive taxpayer-funded vacations.[27]

text: On the weekend of February 10–12, 2017, President Trump and his wife Melania hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and his wife. This was the first use of Mar-a-Lago to entertain an international leader,[28] and the occasion for one of his first international security crises, that of a North Korean missile launch. Trump and Abe conferred in full view of the other diners.[29]

text: During the third consecutive weekend visit to Mar-a-Lago on February 17–20, Trump conducted a campaign rally at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport.[30] He also conducted interviews for a replacement National Security Advisor and named General H. R. McMaster as Flynn's successor on February 20, 2017.[31]

text: After President Trump's fourth weekend visit on March 3–5, questions were raised about the access his paying club members have to him and his entourage. A number of Democratic senators asked the President to release visitor logs of Mar-a-Lago and as well as a list of the members of the private club.[32] Subsequently, the "Mar-a-Lago Act" was introduced, legislation requiring publication of logs of visitors at the White House and other places where the president conducts business.[33] A lawsuit filed by a National Security Archive analyst, Kate Doyle, in conjunction with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and CREW requested the visitor logs from Mar-a-Lago be released to the public. In July 2017 a judge ordered that these logs be released in September .[34]

text: Trump's fifth presidential visit took place on March 17–18. Guests included Melania's parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs.[35]

text: During his next visit April 6–9, President Trump hosted the Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first two days.[36][37][38] At Mar-a-Lago the decision to strike a Syrian airfield was made.[38] The following Easter weekend was also spent with family members at Mar-a-Lago.[39]

text: On April 4, 2017, prior to President Xi's visit, ShareAmerica, a Web site run by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs, published a blog post describing Mar-a-Lago's history.[40] On April 5, 2017, the U.S. Embassy in the United Kingdom's website shared snippets of the original blog post on its own blog, and the U.S. Embassy in Albania's Facebook page shared the original post.[41][42] On April 24, 2017, Democrats Senator Ron Wyden, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and ethics observers like former Ambassador Norman Eisen, questioned the use of official government resources promoting a private property owned by Trump.[43][44][45][46] By April 25, 2017 ShareAmerica and both U.S. Embassies in the United Kingdom and Albania removed their respective posts. ShareAmerica, replaced their post with the following statement, "The intention of the article was to inform the public about where the president has been hosting world leaders. We regret any misperception and have removed the post."[47]

text: With the seasonal closing of Mar-a-Lago by May 14 ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season, President Trump uses Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey as his preferred retreat location during the Summer months (calling it his "Summer White House") [48]

text: Security zone[edit]

text: When the President is in residence the Palm Beach region becomes a zone of temporary flight restrictions[49] affecting flights and air operations severely within a 30 nautical mile (55.56 km) radius.[50] Coast Guard and Secret Service secure the two waterway approaches, ocean and lake, and Secret Service cordons off streets to Mar-a-Lago during the President's visits.[51] By the third weekend in February 2017, nearby Palm Beach County Park Airport (Lantana Airport) had been shut down for three consecutive weekends, accumulating significant financial losses for multiple businesses.[52]

text: The Mar-a-Lago Club[edit]

text: The primary business occupying the estate is the Mar-a-Lago Club, which operates as resort and hotel for dues-paying members, and rents out estate venues for private events. Membership at the Mar-a-Lago Club required a $200,000 initiation fee up until 2012 when it was lowered to $100,000. Sources close to the resort indicated the cut was in response to reduced demand following the Bernie Madoff scandal which affected many affluent Palm Beach residents.[53] The fee was returned to $200,000 in January 2017 following the election of Donald Trump as president[53] with $14,000 annual dues.[54] Overnight guests pay up to $2,000 a night.[17] According to financial disclosure forms filed by Donald Trump, the Mar-a-Lago Club realized $29.7 million in gross revenues in the period June 2015 to May 2016.[55]

text: The club has nearly 500 paying members (with a cap of 500) and admits twenty to forty new members a year.[56][57] Members include oil executive Bill Koch, financier Thomas Peterffy, New Jersey Democratic Party leader George Norcross, lobbyist Kenneth Duberstein, real estate developers Bruce E. Toll and Richard LeFrak, media executive Christopher Ruddy, talk show host Howie Carr, talk show host Michael Savage/s wife, and NFL coach Bill Belichick.[57]

text: The club holds an annual New Year’s Eve party, described in Daily Mail by journalist and author Ronald Kessler, who has known Donald Trump for two decades: "The New Year's Eve party was held in that ballroom [described in Kessler's book The Season: Inside Palm Beach and America's Richest Society], with almost 700 guests who paid $1,000 per couple. First came hors d'oeuvres and champagne on the terrace overlooking the pool, always heated to 78 degrees, like the second pool right on the ocean. Cocktail shrimp, stone crab claws, cold lobster, oysters on the half shell, sushi, and caviar dished onto blini were among the offerings. After that, the guests swanned over to the ballroom for dinner and dancing. Dinner included truffle and ricotta ravioli and filet mignon and scallops. The bubbly: from Trump's own Charlottesville, Virginia vineyard."[58] A second article by Kessler in Daily Mail in February 2016 predicted that Trump would operate as president the way he runs Mar-a-Lago.[59]

text: In "A Roadmap to Trump’s Washington", Kessler described the carrot-and-stick approach Trump used to get his Mar-a-Lago estate approved as a club by Palm Beach Town Council members and predicted he would operate in the same manner as president to win over support for his agenda.[60] In "The Anatomy of a Trump Decision", Kessler depicted how Trump makes decisions by focusing on his decision to turn his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach into a private club.[61]

text: As of February 2017, President Trump is considering at least three club members for ambassadorships.[57]

text: In protest of Trump's remarks on the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, six nonprofit organizations canceled scheduled gala events at the club. The charities canceling included the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society.[62]

text: Lawsuits[edit]

text: Flag litigation[edit]

text: On October 3, 2006, Trump raised a 20-by-30-foot (6.1 by 9.1 m) American flag on an 80-foot (24 m) flagpole at Mar-a-Lago. Town zoning officials asked Trump to adhere to town zoning codes that limit flagpoles to a height of 42 feet (13 m).[63] This dispute led the town council of Palm Beach to charge Trump $1,250 for every day that the flag stayed up. Trump filed a lawsuit against the Town of Palm Beach. Trump eventually dropped his lawsuit over the flag, and in exchange the town waived its fines.[64] As part of a court-ordered mediation, Trump was allowed to file for a permit and keep a pole that was both 10 feet (3.0 m) shorter than the original pole and located on a different spot on his lawn. The agreement also required him to donate $100,000 to veterans’ charities, as well as resulted in a change to town ordinances allowing out-of-town enrollees in club membership.[65]

text: Discrimination[edit]

text: In December 1997, Trump filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In his suit Trump accused the town of discriminating against Mar-a-Lago for allowing black and Jewish members, groups not typically welcome in the area's other clubs.[16]

text: According to Vanity Fair, "Trump and his attorney had already implied that he and his club had been discriminated against because many of its members were Jewish, and, worse, that the council members who had placed the conditions on him had not placed those restrictions on their own clubs."[16]

text: Aviation litigation[edit]

text: Trump has repeatedly filed lawsuits against Palm Beach County over aircraft going to and from Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) allegedly affecting Mar-a-Lago.[66]

text: Trump first filed such a lawsuit in 1995; that action was settled in 1996, with the county agreeing to collaborate with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and to change flight patterns so the noisiest jet aircraft flew over a wider area.[66] As part of the settlement, Trump leased 215 acres from the county, on which he built the 18-hole Trump International Golf Club.[16] In July 2010, Trump filed another lawsuit aiming to stop the airport from constructing a second commercial runway.[67] That suit was dismissed.[66]

text: Trump filed a third suit against the county in January 2015, seeking $100 million in damages for "creating an unreasonable amount of noise, emissions and pollutants at Mar-a-Lago".[66] Trump claims that officials pressured the FAA to direct air traffic to PBI over Mar-a-Lago in a "deliberate and malicious" act.[68]

text: In November 2015, a Florida Circuit Court judge ruled against most of Trump's arguments, dismissing four of the six claims and allowing the others to proceed.[66] Trump dropped the lawsuit after winning the presidency, as the estate will likely have a no-fly zone imposed by the FAA.[69][16] In January 2017, Palm Beach exempted Mar-a-Lago from a ban on landing helicopters on residential properties while Trump is president, including his own fleet and Marine One.[70]